How to Make More Money This Year (With Two Job Opportunities)

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

I have two NEW side hustles to help you earn more in 2016!

Mystery shopping is one of my favorite way to earn extra income. Previously, I asked some of my favorite bloggers how they planned to side hustle this year. My personal challenge is to earn $250 a month from side hustling this year.

Did you know if you’re already a mystery shopper, you can actually work for a mystery shopping company as a scheduler or editor?

A Closer Look is currently looking to add freelance editors and schedulers to their team. If you are interested in working part time as an independent contractor, you should apply! There are multiple openings because this company is growing like crazy.

One of my favorite things about these positions is they are location independent, meaning you can work from anywhere.

These jobs would be good for a wide range of people, including someone who:

already has some mystery shopping experience (this is a must!)

is a stay at home parent who would like to earn more money

a freelancer looking for additional income

likes to work from home or a local coffee shop

someone comfortable talking on the phone, has a computer and likes being on the internet

Here are the job descriptions for each position:

Mystery Shop Schedulers

This is a part-time, independent contract position, and daily monitoring of shops is required. Candidates must have on-line capability and at least a DSL or Broadband connection to the Internet. The applicant for this position must be an outgoing, people person who possesses great attention to detail, the ability to read and follow precise directions, excellent phone skills, the ability to proactively contact shoppers or potential shoppers by phone daily, creative writing skills and a good working knowledge of the internet, social media and computer software.

Mystery Shop Editors

This is a part-time independent contractor position. Editors work virtually/from home and can be located anywhere in the United States. Reports are edited for content, consistency, grammar, punctuation and spelling. Candidates must possess great attention to detail, the ability to read and follow precise directions, the ability to identify and correct inconsistencies in information, the ability to proactively obtain information from shoppers by phone daily, and a strong command of the English language, including spelling, grammar and sentence structure.

Only recently, did I learn about the Mystery Shop Scheduler and Editor positions. Otherwise I would have added these to my side hustles years ago!

Mystery Shoppers

If you would like to become a mystery shopper, A Closer Look is hiring.

I have completed some really fun shops as a mystery shopper for them, with two of my favorites being treating a friend to dinner, and ordering delivery from a really nice restaurant.

I love to go out and eat in new restaurants! However, it can be a budget buster. In this last year, I made it a point to keep this expense down by completing mystery shopping for restaurants and pubs!

Mystery shopping for pubs and restaurants allowed me to go out and eat with out spending my own money! Free food! Plus, I was often paid a shop fee in addition to my free meal. I love being paid to shop and eat.

Now that I’m pretty confident with mystery shopping restaurants, I’ve started exploring all the different ways I can make money from other kinds of mystery shops.

You can mystery shop all hours of the day!

I work for myself but I still have to schedule in some time for the side hustle! When do you have some free time? Mornings? Afternoons? Weekends?

I made a list of all the different kinds of shops I could complete.

Early mornings

Grab a smoothie

Visit the gym and get a free workout

Mornings

Order a coffee and pastry to go at the coffee shop

Treat a friend to breakfast

Midday

Grab lunch at a casual fast dining restaurant

Purchase pet food at the pet shop

Visit the makeup counter at a high end department store and buy new makeup

Purchase a new gadget at a home decor shop

Early Evening

If you’ve finished work early, head to Happy Hour and buy the first round of drinks

Order delivery

Grab dessert at the bakery

Weekends

Buy an item on your DIY to do list

Get a bid on a home remodeling project

Grab brunch with your closest friends

See a movie

Test drive a new car

Make dinner reservations with you spouse

Go apartment hunting

With this kind of availability, it’s easy to work side hustling and mystery shopping into your schedule. You don’t have to commit to the responsibilities of a part job and can instead work as little or as much as you want.

Having a side hustle is a great thing. It has helped me out a lot over the years. You can pay off loans faster or save faster. Some folks like to keep their side hustle for a specific goal or as their “ fun money”. You can live within your budget from your day job and use your side hustle for play!

Ebates

Ebates is my absolute favorite company to use when I’m shopping online. Hello, it’s free money!

Every time I shop online, I always start at Ebates. They have a list of all the places you normally shop at and you just click on the store you want to visit online.

After you make a purchase, you earn a percentage of the sale! They literally give you cash back on every purchase you make. The cash back ranges from 1% to 14%. The money is then deposited into your PayPal account.

Ibotta

This cell phone app helps you make money off your grocery receipts. Yup, for real! You use it after you go grocery shopping and use your receipt. It’s basically a rebate app, so you can earn anywhere from 50 cents to $5 off everything you buy.

My favorite part about Ibotta is that it’s not always brand specific, like a lot of coupons are. So you’ll be able to scan “any brand of bread” for 50 cents off, etc. If you do coupon – you can STILL use Ibotta and get a rebate.

For the diehard couponers out there, this will often result in getting an item for FREE. When you sign up, you will receive a $10 cash bonus when you make your first scan. Join Ibotta here!

Take surveys

I have made thousands of dollars over the past few years from taking surveys online!

There are a handful of companies that I love to use and earn cash back into my PayPal account, as well as reward points that I can use at places like Target, Walmart and Macy's.

Start a blog

Blogging has totally changed my life. I even share my online income reports so other people can see how I got started and how I am growing.

Become an Uber or Lyft driver

Work your own schedule and make mad cash! I know plenty of drivers that work all kinds of different time shifts, whether it's working during rush hour, happy hour or in the evenings. Uber even offers bonuses and extra incentives all the time.

Start saving, even if it’s only a few dollars a week

Whether you want to start an emergency fund or a vacation fund, you have to start setting some money aside. If you’re like most people and struggle with saving, you should consider using Digit or Qapital.

Qapital is a totally free app that let's you decide how much money you want to save every time you make a purchase. You can pick from $1 all the way up to $5.

So let's say I spend $24.05 at the grocery store. Qapital will then transfer $1 to my savings account.

You can link as many debit cards or credit cards as you want to Qapital. So even if you use a credit card to make a purchase, you can pick one bank account to transfer the $1 to your Qapital saving account. Click here to learn more about Qapital.

Digit lets you save money each week from your checking account. What I really like about Digit is that it analyzes my bank account and determines how much I can really save per week.

Some weeks it might be $5 and other times it might be $20. You don’t have to worry about overdraft and can contribute less or more if you need to. You can learn more about Digit here.

The only downside to Digit is they charge $2.99 per month to use their service. I don’t mind the fee though since it’s helping me save money every week. If the fee stressed you out, use Qapital!

Rent out your space on AirBnB

Over the past couple of years, I have stayed at a handful of AirBnB's and saved a ton of money. I've been able to rent an entire house, condo and apartment instead of a room at a hotel. Have you ever thought about renting out your home for a weekend?

You can learn more about how to use AirBnB here. Using the link, you will also get a coupon for $40 off your first stay anywhere!

What kind of mystery shops would you like to do?

This month I have partnered with A Closer Look, a premier mystery shopping company. All opinions are my own!

7 Comments

This is an excellent post an excellent idea . It’s really good that you do this . Where I’m at right now people are having a few trouble so it’s really good that you posted something like this . On behalf of everybody like to say thank you

I think that email is wrong for the editing hiring link- I was thinking I might be interested in it 🙂

xo, M

Kristin
on January 12, 2016 at 6:53 pm

Hey Melinda, it’s working on my end. Let me know if you can’t get it to work and email me at info (at) believeinabudget (dot) com. They are hiring for multiple positions and an AWESOME company to work for!

Kristin
on February 6, 2016 at 12:00 pm

Hi Sabra, as a mystery shopper for them, some shops do include a shopper fee. The shopper fee can be an incentive to complete a shop if no one signs up for it. I received an email from them yesterday with a $10 shop fee, so they exist. Perhaps it’s their way of weeding out people who are strictly looking for reimbursement + shop fee?

Kristin
on February 15, 2016 at 11:13 pm

Agreed – they have some of the BEST shops with AMAZING budgets. Totally out of my price range on a regular basis. Recently I got a $10 shop fee request plus a shop reimbursement – did you get that? Maybe it’s only for shoppers in a certain region!